Synopsis

Set in 1903, just half a year before the Russo-Japanese War. An academic research party from Japan is in the town of Ji'an on the northern bank of the Yalu, the river that separates Manchuria and the Korean Pennisula. The party's objective is the Gwanggaeto Stele, the monument erected in memory of King Gwanggaeto of Goguryeo in ancient Korea. The epitaph holds the key to the history of ancient Korea and the ties between Japan and Korea.